I Can't Make You Love Me (Christian)

[Diana Ward]

...she could try.

Diana fretted about and fidgeted slightly she simply couldn't sit still. She had spent most of the day with Rosalyn and learned much about Christian. Of course a mother had a different perspective on her child than a wife did of that same man. Diana also felt a bit ashamed of herself. Since becoming Christian's wife she hadn't done anything remotely wifely, aside from bedroom activities. No, she couldn't cook, and she was a domestic nightmare, but she also went extra lengths to provoke him and thumb her nose at anything softer.

She had fought against the marriage, and against her feelings for too long. She loved him. It was as simple and as complicated as that. She wanted him. She wanted his love with every fiber of her being. She had obtained it in the past, but was careless. She let insecurities and anger rule her mind and she ruined the love they had shared. She had seen sparks of that love again, but something always stopped them, namely her. But she couldn't hang on the fence any longer. She needed to take a risk, throw it all on the line and hope for the best.

When she got home, or what had become 'home', Christian was gone. Diana had sent Derek an owl asking for privacy so he was also absent. A wave of anxiety came over her as she recalled the last time she attempted to win him over. She felt like that same naive girl as she pulled the recipe from her back pocket that Christian's mother had given her. She had the good sense this time to cast a protection spell over the kitchen and house to not burn it down.

Like any other hurdle Diana had come across she attacked her mission with vigor and determination. When she finally pulled the meal from the oven she nearly cried at the perfectly executed endeavor. Of course dinner had taken so much time she had yet to clean herself or the house up. She set the food to keep warm and hoped that Christian wouldn't be home for a while.

She needn't have worried. The house had been scrubbed clean, the mood set with candlelight and music, and Christian's scotch waiting patiently along with Diana herself who looked jaw-dropping gorgeous with a form fitting black dress which tied at the neck. Still Christian hadn't arrived.

[Christian Ward]

It was late when Christian arrived back at the safe house but the time away had not sated his anger any. He was beyond furious with the vixen but forced himself into an almost calm demeanor as he entered the house. He could smell something coming from the kitchen, a roast, a wondered why Derek had chosen now to become domestic. It certainly wasn't Diana cooking, the house was still intact.

Christian moved into the kitchen, intent on giving Derek an earful about his role in this little plot of Diana's, but Derek wasn't there. It was Diana, dressed to kill and having made dinner. Another ploy, no doubt.

[Diana Ward]

She waited for his reaction. She had never done this for him. Too many insecurities about the last meal she had cooked. He never showed and she just simply waited. The longer he took to get home the more her gut twisted in knots. She couldn't eat she was so anxious.

Finally when he arrived she managed a small smile. His less than impressed expression didn't deter her however, not this time.

Her smile widened, "Welcome home..." she said quickly getting to her feet as she remembered his drink. She brought it to him, "Did you eat, I...I managed to cook something without burning the house down." she said with a rough laugh.

[Christian Ward]

Whatever he was expecting to find when he stepped into the room, it most definitely was not this. Diana put on her show, greeting him and bringing him a drink as if she hadn't spent weeks complaining about him drinking too much. What more could she possibly want out of him? His small fortune was nothing compared to what she had waiting for her when she finally did away with that last board member. As far as she knew, Christian still planned to help her kill the man and she had Derek working on it as well. What game was she playing at now? What was her end goal?

"No," he answered her question. He had been planning to eat when he returned, his kitchen not being stocked yet as the house was returned to its former glory. "I see." The last time he forced her to cook for him she had started a small fire that, had he not interfered, would have taken the whole kitchen down. Christian took the scotch from her without a thank you and moved to the table.

[Diana Ward]

Diana bit her lip to keep from asking him where he had gone. The other day he had halted their tryst to see 'Betty', and while curiosity and more than a little bit of jealousy were eating at her, she was determined not to nag him.

She moved with him toward the table and began talking to cover for his lack of words.

"Your mother said it was your favorite..." she smiled and waited for some acknowledgement, but sensing none would come she moved on and picked up the knife to cut the meat.

[Christian Ward]

There was a moment of awkward silence before Diana filled the dead space with chatter. Diana had been with Roselyn, that couldn't bode well for Christian. What had they talked about? He already knew Diana had overheard his private conversation with his mother. Surely Roselyn chatted about that at least a little.

"Did she, now?" There was very little interest in his tone.

[Diana Ward]

She hesitated and eyed him somewhat, he was being more brusque than usual and she didn't know why. She was slightly confused. Even if she had called it quits, which she had done before, and even if he had moved on, which he seemed to have done, his behavior was still odd.

She shook her head slightly, gently - but firmly - reminding herself that tonight she wasn't going to be the warrior, the one who analyzed every detail looking for a trap. Tonight she intended to seduce her husband, to bring him back to her, and if that couldn't be accomplished, she at least wanted to end things on good terms.

"Yes." she smiled quickly covering for the hesitation, "She talked quite a bit about you."

She sliced into the roast and served him, something quite domestic and almost out of place were it not for the hesitant hope on her face. She really was the picture of an eager to please housewife. She added the additional sides for the meat and unconsciously smiled a genuine smile of self pride at what she had accomplished.

[Christian Ward]

Roselyn had no idea of the sort of cunning deceit Diana was capable of, and the last thing she had heard from her son was that there was going to be a baby. In his mother’s mind, chatting about Christian with the mother of his children and the woman he appeared to love was not the hostile action Christian believed it to be. He couldn’t blame his mother, she was in the dark, and Diana had fooled more than just Roselyn Ward. But she was fooling no one now.


“I’m sure you loved that.” There was condescension in his tone. He caught sight of the proud little smile she wore, clearly pleased with herself for having taken this rouse so far and surely thinking she would get away with it. To what end? Christian hadn't figured that out yet, not completely, but having a highly skilled assassin coerced to murder your enemies and gaining access to the most powerful wizard in Europe was enough of a reward for a deceit done well. He would ensure those perks would be limited from here on out.

[Diana Ward]

His tone alone could freeze the water in the pitcher Diana had brought to the table, and she faltered slightly. Smile gone, she pressed her lips together and bit down on her inner cheek thoughtfully. He was in a mood.

She couldn't blame him. She had more or less refused every attempt at companionship with him, not that they had ever really been companions. Maybe. Before she took his memory. There seemed some level of kindness and care, in addition to the rampant passion that always sparked between them given enough time. That kind of fire was exhausting. They couldn't live on that, and yet Diana didn't think that there could be anything more. So she froze him out. She denied them both. And he sought his pleasure elsewhere.

This was what she wanted. He had found someone else. He would help her get their daughter back and end this terrible war she had been living. They were supposed to be happier this way. Looking at him now from beneath her lashes, it was so obvious to one side of her brain that "happier" was a facade if she couldn't have him. The other part of her brain argued that she was just protecting herself from only having half of him, supported by the small voice that said she wasn't pretty enough, stable enough, sexy enough, and so on and so forth to keep a man like Christian.

Finally she slumped in her chair, the mood sour, her thoughts morose. This was a fool's errand. She was a fool.

"She loves you very much." We both do.

[Christian Ward]

He hadn't expected that reaction to his words, but he kept any look of surprise to himself. A reaction was expected, of course. Christian hadn't bothered to hide the tone behind his words. He put it out there clear as day, stopping just short of flat out calling Diana out on her trickery. He was in a mood, yes, and it was undeterred by her sulking as she slumped into the chair across from him.

"Love is easily exploited, isn't it?" He picked up his knife and fork, cutting a bite-sized piece of the roast and stabbing it with his fork. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it, wondering whether Diana would attempt to use that potion on him once more, to fool him further into her service. He was certain she would, but doubted the timing would be now. He was already, as far as she knew, on her side in this fight against the board members to save their daughter. Diana's insane ploy wouldn't stop him from ensuring his children were safe and well cared for. They were innocent to their mother's dastardly plans. Christian bit into the meat, his eyes focused intently on Diana. He practically sneered as he chewed his food, swallowing before cutting off another bite.

[Diana Ward]

"You would know." she bit back, unable to hold her tongue. Christian had certainly exploited her love for him a time or two, and his smugness brought her anger to the front. She could sulk with the best of them, but it wasn't really her style - except when it came to Christian. He screwed everything up for her. Any other man and Diana could wrap the poor bloke around her pinky. She could be cool, confident, sexy, mysterious. But with Christian she was a gawky teenager in front of the handsomest, most dangerously thrilling man she had ever known.

He could whip her raw with his words and still she'd welcome him into her bed like some whipped puppy begging for scraps. That was why she convinced herself she needed to let go of him once and for all, but something always brought her back. Today it was Rosalyn. Christian was all the things that could make a mother proud, and hearing about him in that softer light stole Diana's heart once more. The practical matter of their children also pushed Diana to take another stab at the volatile death trap that was their relationship.

Gritting her teeth, she reached for her water and tried to ignore his comment. Then he took a bite. She waited, did he like it? Would he say he liked it? He was sneering, but he did take another bite. She didn't realize she was waiting for him to say something, but when the ice water spilled onto her dress not quite making it to her mouth she caught herself. Merlin what was she doing? Still so damn eager for his approval. She nearly slammed the cup on the table and focused on her plate, inwardly chastising herself.

[Christian Ward]

God damn it, she was being feisty and Christian both loved and loathed that in her. No, he didn’t really love it. He lusted after it. Any fool could see that Diana was stunning. She needn’t drug him to make Christian find her attractive. She only needed that to make him marry her. If she wasn’t a psychotic mastermind, he could easily just f*ck her and go, but she needed more from him than a good shagging and she knew that she couldn’t get him to wed her any other way. He wasn’t the sort. Everyone knew that. Well, Betty didn’t seem to know that – she wanted as much of Christian as Diana did, though for explicitly different reasons – but everyone with half a brain knew Christian Ward wasn’t the type to settle down. He stabbed another piece of meat with his fork as he angrily internalized the feelings of stupidity at not putting it together sooner. Christian knew himself. He wasn’t the kind of man who would ever marry, and aside from these repeated accidents with Diana (or anchor babies, as was probably more of an appropriate term) he wasn’t a family man who happily took on the role of doting father. Christian was a man of action, of violence, and business. The only people who should ever consider calling him ‘daddy’ are the women with father issues that he used to bed before finding his manhood bound by magic to work only for one woman.

Diana spilled her drink on herself, perhaps as yet another ploy to gain his sympathy, but he simply ate in silence, pausing every few bites to take a swallow of scotch. The food, he admitted only to himself, was actually quite good and very similar to how his mother used to make roast when he was a boy and sometimes still on special occasions when they had tea together. Had Kingston not informed him of the means with which Diana had deceived him, he could have very well been pulled in by her offer of a home cooked meal and a provocative dress. He would not be swayed, he had more willpower than to succumb to a woman with the body of a goddess, even while pregnant, and a powerful spell that made him function only for her.

[Diana Ward]

She didn't know what to do, and she hated it. She had set out to seduce her husband, but every second that passed by without a word between them was torture. He ate. She ate. Silence.

Finally, Diana was done with the plate in front of her. Everything tasted like ash, and she couldn't enjoy the fruits of her labor with her churlish husband across the table. She also didn't have the scotch to sip on instead of converse. She set her fork down, tired of pushing her food around, and took a glance around the room.

It hadn't been messy, but messier than the meticulous home Christian and she shared, thanks to Derek. Seeing as how the man had a house elf and a maid or twelve to pick up after him it wasn't surprising. In any case, she had cleaned, decorated - or set the mood rather, cooked, and dressed for her husband who couldn't care less.

She froze suddenly. The silence weighing on her nerves pushing memories to the surface. Cooking, cleaning, dressing up...waiting. Waiting on the same man. Waiting for Christian to return to the hotel where they spent a week in each other's arms. Waiting for Christian to acknowledge her tonight. Wondering where he had gone, and if he'd ever return after he abandoned her. Wondering where he had been earlier, if he had been alone, if he would abandon her again.

It was too much.

She was screaming inside and before she knew what she was doing the knife had left her hand.

There, stuck in the very expensive oak table, her steak knife stood demanding attention. Just an inch away from Christian's hand pinning his sleeve to the table preventing him from bringing the fork to his mouth.

Diana's anger temporarily washed away, and her mouth fell open in surprise. She had just thrown a knife at her husband. She had just thrown a knife at one of the most skilled assassins in the dark world. A man who was not her husband in mind nor spirit, but in name only.

Her breathing became short. What had she done? A part of her tensed like a frightened rabbit, but another emotion began to spread through out her body and caused her to coil for another reason. Action. Something would happen now, better or worse, you couldn't throw a knife at Christian Ward and walk away.

Her eyes came up to his. She stood her ground, and if possible lifted her chin. Your move asshat.

[Christian Ward]

Christian was happy to torment his wife by eating in silence, not acknowledging the work she had put into making this evening something special for whatever nefarious reason she may have had. The little burst of spitfire she had shown at the beginning of their meal had dissipated and the pair sat in silence for a long while with nothing but the sounds of their forks scraping their plates or his glass being set on the table. The rest of the house was eerily quiet; you could have heard a pin drop.

But it wasn’t a pin that shattered the silence.

Christian had just set down his knife and adjusted his fork so as to take a bite of what was left on his plate when Diana exploded, seemingly out of nowhere, and a steak knife pinned Christian’s hand to the table. “What the actual f*ck, Diana!?” he hollered as his free hand wrapped around the handle of the knife, pulling the blade from the wood. He stood, knife in hand, seething at the woman who was single handedly responsible for driving Christian mad. “What the f*ck is going on in your f*cking head?” Christian kicked the chair out from behind him, giving him space to move freely around the table where he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, forcing her to arch backwards to minimize the pain.

[Diana Ward]

And arch into him. Her body responded immediately, like a man in the desert dying of thirst reacts to an oasis, not bothering to check if the water's poisoned - which the state of their relationship was certainly venomous - her body didn't care. She felt him from her knees to chest and every inch of contact was fueling the fire.

She had the audacity to smile, and in a sweet voice (as though she hadn't just thrown a knife at him, as though he wasn't furious and twisting her arm back) she asked, "Was the roast to your liking?"

Her eyes were hot and intense, but there was a teasing challenge in her expression. She would not be ignored. She was not that docile little girl anymore. Christian could beat her down, but she didn't have to take it. And he would not disregard her. Kill her maybe. But ignore her? She wouldn't let him.

[Christian Ward]

The look of shock on Diana’s face altered suddenly into a smile. A heavenly smile with only the gleam in her eyes betraying her insanity. Was the roast to his liking? Christian’s fist tightened around the handle of the steak knife. He raised it and brought it to rest on her olive skin at the base of her neck, letting the sharp tip press into her skin – not enough to pierce the flesh but enough to legitimately threaten it. Christian tugged her arm so that she arched further still, her breasts practically begging to fall out of the slinky little dress she had worn for him. He could feel his anger rising, as was something else.

If she wasn’t seven months pregnant with his son, Christian might have done something lethal. He was angry enough. Diana had drugged him in order to take his name – the reasoning behind which he was still investigating, she had coerced him into a family he had not planned nor wanted, and she had erased just enough of his memories that he couldn’t quite figure out her plan on his own. He was used to working with a team, having his men find the pieces before he put the puzzle together, but when so many of those puzzle pieces were his own sodding memories it was difficult to make out the picture properly. He would get there, there was no doubt about that. Christian was a clever man, he would piece together Diana’s master plan soon enough, with or without his memories.

So long as his lust for the chaotic beauty didn’t screw everything up.

"It tasted almost as good as your c*nt," he answered crudely through clenched teeth. Dragging the knife across her collarbone, Christian sneered at her.



Tag: Diana Ward

[Diana Ward]

Diana was no stranger to knives nor Christian's anger. Sometimes she pushed him just to see his anger and usually his lust as his emotions rose so did his passion and more often than not it led to something else.

She swallowed and the knife pressed in just deep enough for a small trickle of blood to escape her jugular.

What was it about this man that made the pain even seem like pleasure?

Her eyes went soft, her body softer against his, "Christian..."

His words had been crude and hard, but she could feel his desire against her and felt her victory at hand, or so she thought.

[Christian Ward]

The tension in her muscles slacked and he felt her begun to melt against him. Her voice was sultry and longing as she said his name. f*ck, how he loved his name on her lips. But he wasn't falling for her ploys. Not this time.

His eyes fell on the freshly formed droplet of blood, a light crimson color against her lovely skin. Moving the blade, Christian ran his thumb across the blood, smearing it across the base of her neck. "If you try something like that again," he warned her, his teeth clenched and his voice rugged with anger, pushing down the overwhelming sense of attraction he felt as her chest heaved with each breath she took, "I won't wait for you to deliver my son before I end you." With a single fluid motion of his arm, he flung the knife into the wall where it stuck as if hitting a target. He released her arm and headed for the doorway.



Tag: Diana Ward

[Diana Ward]

Diana's mind raced with the dirty things she imagined Christian doing to her. It had been too long. Much too long. Since Christian had come back into her life they had barely gone a week without being intimate, some of their longer bouts of withdrawal ended in a crazy kind of passion that wholly consumed her until all other thoughts disappeared and the only existence she could imagine was being entangled with the man in front of her.

Their reconciliation at hand, Diana knew this time would be no different. On the contrary due to the extended withdrawal and weeks of foreplay and fighting, Diana wondered if they'd come out of their passion alive.

But that's not what happened.

Diana's thoughts had run away from her and reality was too foreign for her to truly comprehend Christian turning her down. It took his nearly reaching the door to shake her out of her shock.

"Christian!" she cried out still confused, her body locked as she stumbled but caught herself.

She blinked. His words were strange, hard and angrier than she could reason. He wasn't in a "bad mood". He wasn't being surly. His words carried real threat and real detachment. How had they reached this point? A tightness coiled in her stomach, dread reached around her heart. But she was being ridiculous. If nothing else he loved his son surely, and he couldn't hate her...could he?

[Christian Ward]

He could. He did. There was nothing in the laws of nature that stated you couldn’t hate someone while also wanting to screw their brains out. That was precisely the situation Christian was in. Yes, his body reacted happily to Diana, but he was more than just carnal instincts. There was more at play than his dick. Diana had completely f*cked over his life and she seemed to be taking pleasure in her accomplishments. His normally clear-headed, calculated actions were now at risk, clouded by the knowledge that he had a daughter to protect and a son on the way. His life rested in Diana’s hands as they were bonded to each other after she drugged him and forced him into a marriage he neither asked for nor wanted. That life bond had put him on rocky standing with the Dark Lord, his position now threatened not only by his competitors but also by the simple fact that Christian could be easily done-in by the death of his wife. The destruction of his home was minuscule compared to the monstrous devastation Diana had rained down upon him.

Her cry for him carried no weight as he continued out of the kitchen and through the lounge toward the front door.



Tag: Diana Ward